1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk cartridge for charging therein a plurality of disks, e.g., digital audio disks and mounted to a reproducing apparatus having an auto changing mechanism or the -ike.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior to this application, we have previously filed an application relating to a disk player capable of reproducing disks in sequential and random modes in addition to a normal mode by employing a disk cartridge in which a plurality of disks such as digital audio disks or video disks (U.S. application No. 739,435, filed on May 22, 1985 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,701,900) is charged.
In a disk cartridge used in the disk player disclosed in this previous application, a case body is provided with a disk insertion opening at its front surface and partition members for partitioning at intervals each slightly larger than the thickness of a disk are provided to form shelf-like spaces for storing a plurality of disks.
In each disk storage space, a leaf spring extends inwardly in the storage space to bias a disk toward a side wall opposite to the disk insertion opening so that the inserted disk will not pop out outside the case by an external force such as an impact upon the case. When a disk is inserted, the peripheral edge of a disk passes beyond the leaf spring and the disk is pushed in to a storage position.
Push members for pushing disks toward the disk insertion opening to discharge the disks are provided on the side wall opposite to the disk insertion opening of the cartridge. The push members are integrally formed with slide tabs for operation extending outwardly from the side wall surface of the case body and are slidable in an insertion/removal direction.
When such a disk cartridge is mounted to a player, a desired disk is discharged from the case body by operating the above slide tabs and returned in its original position at the end of reproduction.
Since the original position is detected by position detection of a slide tab which is operated, the slide tab must be located at either a discharge or storage position so as not to be erroneously operated. However, in a player for an automobile, a slide tab corresponding to a storage space storing no disk originally or a slide tab corresponding to a storage space from which a disk was removed for playback is free, so that the slide tab is sometimes moved from correct positions by the inclination, acceleration, or vibrations to the player to cause detection errors.
Therefore, it is preferred to provide a click mechanism (a structure wherein a resistance along a sliding direction is locally increased) for holding a slide tab at its discharge and storage positions, respectively. However, when 10 or more disks are charged in the cartridge, a load of the click mechanism is so increased that an auto reset mechanism for resetting the above slide tab at its storage position may not correctly operate.